FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18 - 24 SEPTEMBER 1973)
This week's many stories include the twopenny bus rides in St Helens, the Liver Birds' opening of Fine Fare in Church Street, the mugging threat to bank customers in Hardshaw Street, a last ditch bid to save Crank Post Office, Rainford Council considers banning large lorries from passing through the village and Leathers temporarily close their Sutton chemical works to install anti-pollution equipment.
I wonder what you do with 2,880 hot eggs? That's not hot in the sense of them having been cooked – but warm after being nicked. A thief who stole 240 dozen eggs from a farm in Lowfield Lane in Lea Green had that dilemma this week.
In July the St Helens Reporter had predicted a hike in bus fares in the town caused by "soaring" running costs and a "severe" shortage of staff. If fares were left unchanged it was expected that the St Helens Transport Department would have a £115,000 loss by the end of the 1973 - 74 financial year. That was compared to being £46,000 in the red during the previous year.
And so on the 18th of this week the North Western Traffic Commissioners approved fare increases, which would come into effect on October 1st. In 1973 you could catch a bus in St Helens for just 2p. I'm not sure how far that fare took you – not very far I expect. But that was the nugget of information contained in the newspaper reports that detailed the price rises. These added one penny to the existing fare rates – but left the 2p minimum and other short distance 4p fares unchanged. Leslie Newall, the Acting Transport Manager, also reported being 60 bus drivers short of their ideal complement of 262, which was threatening services.
Also on the 18th Polly James and Nerys Hughes opened the new Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens. The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford and the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid accompanied them.
The new store had two sales floors with food, electrical, clothing and bakery departments and what was described as a quick service restaurant. Their opening offers included free stainless steel spoons with purchases of Birds Trifle Angel Delight; a free tea caddy for purchasers of ½ lb Fine Fare tea and a free Findus Mousse with every purchase of 10 ozs of fish fingers. One thousand baby dolls were also on offer with selected Lyons Cake purchases.
Fine Fare was also giving away a pair of tights to customers that spent over £1 in their textiles department and the prizes to be won in their competitions included transistor radios, travel rugs, a Kenwood Chef food mixer and bicycles. Then three days later Miss Great Britain was at the Church Street store giving away free tights to customers that bought Lux soap. Clearly men were not expected to do much shopping!
On the 19th organist Reginald Dixon returned to the Theatre Royal in St Helens. "By special request at the organ" said the ad in the Reporter – although by whom was not specified. Although Reginald Dixon only seems to have played the theatre on a few occasions – the Hillsiders made a huge number of appearances in Corporation Street and they were back on the 20th to perform their brand of country music.
Also on the 20th Parr Stocks Annual Pleasure Fair began on what was described as the "usual land next to fire station". The fair lasted for a fortnight but normally closed on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
On the 21st the Reporter described how Leathers chemical works in Sutton (pictured above) had temporarily shut for the installation of their much-touted anti-pollution equipment. The cooling system imported from America could take two or three weeks to be put into operation at Lancots Lane, with Ald. Harold Rimmer, chairman of the St Helens Planning and Development Committee, telling the paper: "This should mitigate the leaks of acid." The Reporter wrote: "Leathers were unavailable for comment yesterday". They were ALWAYS unavailable for comment and could be said to be a textbook example of how not to deal with bad PR.
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road had opened its doors on August 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices". Now Claymore Electrical Discount Warehouse had opened inside Kwik Save offering a wide range of products, some of which are obsolete or virtually so today. I counted 18 different radiograms and 38 transistor radios listed in their advert. And there were 13 cassette recorders and 12 described as "spool type". These were more commonly known as reel-to-reel or ¼-inch tape recorders.
This week Rainford Council's Highways Committee heard the results of a traffic census that had been taken three weeks before. It had been conducted around the Hydes Brow, News Lane and Spring Vale district after claims had been made that Rainford was being "destroyed" by heavy lorries. The councillors were told that 190 heavy vehicles, each of over three tons, had passed their checkpoint in just 12 hours.
That led to Cllr Audrey Berry saying: "Have we no thought for the pollution and disruption the whole thing causes? Don't people count any more? There were a few days last week when the traffic was really terrible." Many of the lorries were taking household rubbish to the new Holiday Moss tip – but there were other destinations as well.
Mrs Berry claimed some were travelling to a site at Crawford laden with soil and then returning twenty minutes later carrying stone chippings. Others were using the roads in the village as shortcuts. The committee subsequently decided to ask the Department of the Environment for an explanation of the council's powers to control traffic. That was with the intention of possibly banning large lorries from certain parts of the village.
Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes Committee also decided this week to write to the Department of the Environment. The committee were considering a last ditch bid to save Crank's sub-post office and wanted to know whether the department would allow them to make a compulsory purchase. A builder who had bought the existing post office site said he would sell it to the council for £4,000.
But that was considered too high, as the District Valuer's price tag on the building was only £2,300. Cllr. Walter Darlington said: "The building is worth very little, but we need it to maintain a service in Crank where people can come and draw their pensions – particularly because of the high cost of transport to Rainford." If compulsory purchase was permitted then the building could be bought at the lower price.
There was more concern expressed in the Reporter over the possibility of bank customers getting mugged. A ban was now in place on vehicles parking in Hardshaw Street and depositors had to carry money to the banks from either Chalon Way or Birchley Street car parks – which were more than 300 yards away.
Derek Long, the manager of Lloyds Bank in Hardshaw Street, said: "One of these days there is going to be a nasty accident to someone. I hope the council don't feel any recrimination when it happens. We are asking for co-operation from police and traffic wardens so the situation can be eased."
However, the police stated that if people were taking large sums of money to a bank they could still leave their car in Hardshaw Street. But their vehicle could only be parked for ten minutes and they had to be accompanied by a second person that needed to remain with the car.
And finally, a brief entertainment guide. On the 21st – and described as the "1972/73 champions" – the Black Dyke Mills Band was in concert at the Theatre Royal. And on the following evening Lonnie Donegan, the "king of skiffle", performed in Corporation Street. Then on the 23rd it was all change at the town's two cinemas. At the Capitol 'Dirty Harry' starring Clint Eastwood replaced 'Ryan's Daughter' for a week. And at the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street, Diana Ross starred as Billie Holiday in 'Lady Sings The Blues', which replaced a film called 'Sex Life in a Convent'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unhappy Ugandan Asians in St Helens, the claim of Women's lib at Pilks, the St Helens' residents complaining of horrifying living conditions and community service is introduced in the town's courts.
I wonder what you do with 2,880 hot eggs? That's not hot in the sense of them having been cooked – but warm after being nicked. A thief who stole 240 dozen eggs from a farm in Lowfield Lane in Lea Green had that dilemma this week.
In July the St Helens Reporter had predicted a hike in bus fares in the town caused by "soaring" running costs and a "severe" shortage of staff. If fares were left unchanged it was expected that the St Helens Transport Department would have a £115,000 loss by the end of the 1973 - 74 financial year. That was compared to being £46,000 in the red during the previous year.
Also on the 18th Polly James and Nerys Hughes opened the new Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens. The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford and the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid accompanied them.
The new store had two sales floors with food, electrical, clothing and bakery departments and what was described as a quick service restaurant. Their opening offers included free stainless steel spoons with purchases of Birds Trifle Angel Delight; a free tea caddy for purchasers of ½ lb Fine Fare tea and a free Findus Mousse with every purchase of 10 ozs of fish fingers. One thousand baby dolls were also on offer with selected Lyons Cake purchases.
Fine Fare was also giving away a pair of tights to customers that spent over £1 in their textiles department and the prizes to be won in their competitions included transistor radios, travel rugs, a Kenwood Chef food mixer and bicycles. Then three days later Miss Great Britain was at the Church Street store giving away free tights to customers that bought Lux soap. Clearly men were not expected to do much shopping!
On the 19th organist Reginald Dixon returned to the Theatre Royal in St Helens. "By special request at the organ" said the ad in the Reporter – although by whom was not specified. Although Reginald Dixon only seems to have played the theatre on a few occasions – the Hillsiders made a huge number of appearances in Corporation Street and they were back on the 20th to perform their brand of country music.
Also on the 20th Parr Stocks Annual Pleasure Fair began on what was described as the "usual land next to fire station". The fair lasted for a fortnight but normally closed on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road had opened its doors on August 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices". Now Claymore Electrical Discount Warehouse had opened inside Kwik Save offering a wide range of products, some of which are obsolete or virtually so today. I counted 18 different radiograms and 38 transistor radios listed in their advert. And there were 13 cassette recorders and 12 described as "spool type". These were more commonly known as reel-to-reel or ¼-inch tape recorders.
This week Rainford Council's Highways Committee heard the results of a traffic census that had been taken three weeks before. It had been conducted around the Hydes Brow, News Lane and Spring Vale district after claims had been made that Rainford was being "destroyed" by heavy lorries. The councillors were told that 190 heavy vehicles, each of over three tons, had passed their checkpoint in just 12 hours.
That led to Cllr Audrey Berry saying: "Have we no thought for the pollution and disruption the whole thing causes? Don't people count any more? There were a few days last week when the traffic was really terrible." Many of the lorries were taking household rubbish to the new Holiday Moss tip – but there were other destinations as well.
Mrs Berry claimed some were travelling to a site at Crawford laden with soil and then returning twenty minutes later carrying stone chippings. Others were using the roads in the village as shortcuts. The committee subsequently decided to ask the Department of the Environment for an explanation of the council's powers to control traffic. That was with the intention of possibly banning large lorries from certain parts of the village.
Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes Committee also decided this week to write to the Department of the Environment. The committee were considering a last ditch bid to save Crank's sub-post office and wanted to know whether the department would allow them to make a compulsory purchase. A builder who had bought the existing post office site said he would sell it to the council for £4,000.
But that was considered too high, as the District Valuer's price tag on the building was only £2,300. Cllr. Walter Darlington said: "The building is worth very little, but we need it to maintain a service in Crank where people can come and draw their pensions – particularly because of the high cost of transport to Rainford." If compulsory purchase was permitted then the building could be bought at the lower price.
There was more concern expressed in the Reporter over the possibility of bank customers getting mugged. A ban was now in place on vehicles parking in Hardshaw Street and depositors had to carry money to the banks from either Chalon Way or Birchley Street car parks – which were more than 300 yards away.
Derek Long, the manager of Lloyds Bank in Hardshaw Street, said: "One of these days there is going to be a nasty accident to someone. I hope the council don't feel any recrimination when it happens. We are asking for co-operation from police and traffic wardens so the situation can be eased."
However, the police stated that if people were taking large sums of money to a bank they could still leave their car in Hardshaw Street. But their vehicle could only be parked for ten minutes and they had to be accompanied by a second person that needed to remain with the car.
And finally, a brief entertainment guide. On the 21st – and described as the "1972/73 champions" – the Black Dyke Mills Band was in concert at the Theatre Royal. And on the following evening Lonnie Donegan, the "king of skiffle", performed in Corporation Street. Then on the 23rd it was all change at the town's two cinemas. At the Capitol 'Dirty Harry' starring Clint Eastwood replaced 'Ryan's Daughter' for a week. And at the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street, Diana Ross starred as Billie Holiday in 'Lady Sings The Blues', which replaced a film called 'Sex Life in a Convent'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unhappy Ugandan Asians in St Helens, the claim of Women's lib at Pilks, the St Helens' residents complaining of horrifying living conditions and community service is introduced in the town's courts.
This week's many stories include the twopenny bus rides in St Helens, the Liver Birds' opening of Fine Fare in Church Street, the mugging threat to bank customers in Hardshaw Street, a last ditch bid to save Crank Post Office, Rainford Council considers banning large lorries from passing through the village and Leathers temporarily close their Sutton chemical works to install anti-pollution equipment.
I wonder what you do with 2,880 hot eggs? That's not hot in the sense of them having been cooked – but warm after being nicked.
A thief who stole 240 dozen eggs from a farm in Lowfield Lane in Lea Green had that dilemma this week.
In July the St Helens Reporter had predicted a hike in bus fares in the town caused by "soaring" running costs and a "severe" shortage of staff.
If fares were left unchanged it was expected that the St Helens Transport Department would have a £115,000 loss by the end of the 1973 - 74 financial year. That was compared to being £46,000 in the red during the previous year.
And so on the 18th of this week the North Western Traffic Commissioners approved fare increases, which would come into effect on October 1st.
In 1973 you could catch a bus in St Helens for just 2p. I'm not sure how far that fare took you – not very far I expect.
But that was the nugget of information contained in the newspaper reports that detailed the price rises.
These added one penny to the existing fare rates – but left the 2p minimum and other short distance 4p fares unchanged.
Leslie Newall, the Acting Transport Manager, also reported being 60 bus drivers short of their ideal complement of 262, which was threatening services.
Also on the 18th Polly James and Nerys Hughes opened the new Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens.
The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford and the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid accompanied them.
The new store had two sales floors with food, electrical, clothing and bakery departments and what was described as a quick service restaurant.
Their opening offers included free stainless steel spoons with purchases of Birds Trifle Angel Delight; a free tea caddy for purchasers of ½ lb Fine Fare tea and a free Findus Mousse with every purchase of 10 ozs of fish fingers. One thousand baby dolls were also on offer with selected Lyons Cake purchases.
Fine Fare was also giving away a pair of tights to customers that spent over £1 in their textiles department and the prizes to be won in their competitions included transistor radios, travel rugs, a Kenwood Chef food mixer and bicycles.
Then three days later Miss Great Britain was at the Church Street store giving away free tights to customers that bought Lux soap. Clearly men were not expected to do much shopping!
On the 19th organist Reginald Dixon returned to the Theatre Royal in St Helens. "By special request at the organ" said the ad in the Reporter – although by whom was not specified.
Although Reginald Dixon only seems to have played the theatre on a few occasions – the Hillsiders made a huge number of appearances in Corporation Street and they were back on the 20th to perform their brand of country music.
Also on the 20th Parr Stocks Annual Pleasure Fair began on what was described as the "usual land next to fire station".
The fair lasted for a fortnight but normally closed on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
On the 21st the Reporter described how Leathers chemical works in Sutton (pictured above) had temporarily shut for the installation of their much-touted anti-pollution equipment.
The cooling system imported from America could take two or three weeks to be put into operation at Lancots Lane, with Ald. Harold Rimmer, chairman of the St Helens Planning and Development Committee, telling the paper: "This should mitigate the leaks of acid."
The Reporter wrote: "Leathers were unavailable for comment yesterday". They were ALWAYS unavailable for comment and could be said to be a textbook example of how not to deal with bad PR.
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road had opened its doors on August 31st.
Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices".
Now Claymore Electrical Discount Warehouse had opened inside Kwik Save offering a wide range of products, some of which are obsolete or virtually so today.
I counted 18 different radiograms and 38 transistor radios listed in their advert. And there were 13 cassette recorders and 12 described as "spool type". These were more commonly known as reel-to-reel or quarter-inch tape recorders.
This week Rainford Council's Highways Committee heard the results of a traffic census that had been taken three weeks before.
It had been conducted around the Hydes Brow, News Lane and Spring Vale district after claims had been made that Rainford was being "destroyed" by heavy lorries.
The councillors were told that 190 heavy vehicles, each of over three tons, had passed their checkpoint in just 12 hours. That led to Cllr Audrey Berry saying:
"Have we no thought for the pollution and disruption the whole thing causes? Don't people count any more? There were a few days last week when the traffic was really terrible."
Many of the lorries were taking household rubbish to the new Holiday Moss tip – but there were other destinations as well.
Mrs Berry claimed some were travelling to a site at Crawford laden with soil and then returning twenty minutes later carrying stone chippings. Others were using the roads in the village as shortcuts.
The committee subsequently decided to ask the Department of the Environment for an explanation of the council's powers to control traffic.
That was with the intention of possibly banning large lorries from certain parts of the village.
Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes Committee also decided this week to write to the Department of the Environment.
The committee were considering a last ditch bid to save Crank's sub-post office and wanted to know whether the department would allow them to make a compulsory purchase.
A builder who had bought the existing post office site said he would sell it to the council for £4,000.
But that was considered too high, as the District Valuer's price tag on the building was only £2,300.
Cllr. Walter Darlington said: "The building is worth very little, but we need it to maintain a service in Crank where people can come and draw their pensions – particularly because of the high cost of transport to Rainford."
If compulsory purchase was permitted then the building could be bought at the lower price.
There was more concern expressed in the Reporter over the possibility of bank customers getting mugged.
A ban was now in place on vehicles parking in Hardshaw Street and depositors had to carry money to the banks from either Chalon Way or Birchley Street car parks – which were more than 300 yards away.
Derek Long, the manager of Lloyds Bank in Hardshaw Street, said: "One of these days there is going to be a nasty accident to someone. I hope the council don't feel any recrimination when it happens. We are asking for co-operation from police and traffic wardens so the situation can be eased."
However, the police stated that if people were taking large sums of money to a bank they could still leave their car in Hardshaw Street.
But their vehicle could only be parked for ten minutes and they had to be accompanied by a second person that needed to remain with the car.
And finally, a brief entertainment guide. On the 21st – and described as the "1972/73 champions" – the Black Dyke Mills Band was in concert at the Theatre Royal.
And on the following evening Lonnie Donegan, the "king of skiffle", performed in Corporation Street.
Then on the 23rd it was all change at the town's two cinemas. At the Capitol 'Dirty Harry' starring Clint Eastwood replaced 'Ryan's Daughter' for a week.
And at the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street, Diana Ross starred as Billie Holiday in 'Lady Sings The Blues', which replaced a film called 'Sex Life in a Convent'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unhappy Ugandan Asians in St Helens, the claim of Women's lib at Pilks, the St Helens' residents complaining of horrifying living conditions and community service is introduced in the town's courts.
I wonder what you do with 2,880 hot eggs? That's not hot in the sense of them having been cooked – but warm after being nicked.
A thief who stole 240 dozen eggs from a farm in Lowfield Lane in Lea Green had that dilemma this week.
In July the St Helens Reporter had predicted a hike in bus fares in the town caused by "soaring" running costs and a "severe" shortage of staff.
If fares were left unchanged it was expected that the St Helens Transport Department would have a £115,000 loss by the end of the 1973 - 74 financial year. That was compared to being £46,000 in the red during the previous year.
In 1973 you could catch a bus in St Helens for just 2p. I'm not sure how far that fare took you – not very far I expect.
But that was the nugget of information contained in the newspaper reports that detailed the price rises.
These added one penny to the existing fare rates – but left the 2p minimum and other short distance 4p fares unchanged.
Leslie Newall, the Acting Transport Manager, also reported being 60 bus drivers short of their ideal complement of 262, which was threatening services.
Also on the 18th Polly James and Nerys Hughes opened the new Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens.
The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford and the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid accompanied them.
The new store had two sales floors with food, electrical, clothing and bakery departments and what was described as a quick service restaurant.
Their opening offers included free stainless steel spoons with purchases of Birds Trifle Angel Delight; a free tea caddy for purchasers of ½ lb Fine Fare tea and a free Findus Mousse with every purchase of 10 ozs of fish fingers. One thousand baby dolls were also on offer with selected Lyons Cake purchases.
Fine Fare was also giving away a pair of tights to customers that spent over £1 in their textiles department and the prizes to be won in their competitions included transistor radios, travel rugs, a Kenwood Chef food mixer and bicycles.
Then three days later Miss Great Britain was at the Church Street store giving away free tights to customers that bought Lux soap. Clearly men were not expected to do much shopping!
On the 19th organist Reginald Dixon returned to the Theatre Royal in St Helens. "By special request at the organ" said the ad in the Reporter – although by whom was not specified.
Although Reginald Dixon only seems to have played the theatre on a few occasions – the Hillsiders made a huge number of appearances in Corporation Street and they were back on the 20th to perform their brand of country music.
Also on the 20th Parr Stocks Annual Pleasure Fair began on what was described as the "usual land next to fire station".
The fair lasted for a fortnight but normally closed on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The cooling system imported from America could take two or three weeks to be put into operation at Lancots Lane, with Ald. Harold Rimmer, chairman of the St Helens Planning and Development Committee, telling the paper: "This should mitigate the leaks of acid."
The Reporter wrote: "Leathers were unavailable for comment yesterday". They were ALWAYS unavailable for comment and could be said to be a textbook example of how not to deal with bad PR.
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road had opened its doors on August 31st.
Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices".
Now Claymore Electrical Discount Warehouse had opened inside Kwik Save offering a wide range of products, some of which are obsolete or virtually so today.
I counted 18 different radiograms and 38 transistor radios listed in their advert. And there were 13 cassette recorders and 12 described as "spool type". These were more commonly known as reel-to-reel or quarter-inch tape recorders.
This week Rainford Council's Highways Committee heard the results of a traffic census that had been taken three weeks before.
It had been conducted around the Hydes Brow, News Lane and Spring Vale district after claims had been made that Rainford was being "destroyed" by heavy lorries.
The councillors were told that 190 heavy vehicles, each of over three tons, had passed their checkpoint in just 12 hours. That led to Cllr Audrey Berry saying:
"Have we no thought for the pollution and disruption the whole thing causes? Don't people count any more? There were a few days last week when the traffic was really terrible."
Many of the lorries were taking household rubbish to the new Holiday Moss tip – but there were other destinations as well.
Mrs Berry claimed some were travelling to a site at Crawford laden with soil and then returning twenty minutes later carrying stone chippings. Others were using the roads in the village as shortcuts.
The committee subsequently decided to ask the Department of the Environment for an explanation of the council's powers to control traffic.
That was with the intention of possibly banning large lorries from certain parts of the village.
Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes Committee also decided this week to write to the Department of the Environment.
The committee were considering a last ditch bid to save Crank's sub-post office and wanted to know whether the department would allow them to make a compulsory purchase.
A builder who had bought the existing post office site said he would sell it to the council for £4,000.
But that was considered too high, as the District Valuer's price tag on the building was only £2,300.
Cllr. Walter Darlington said: "The building is worth very little, but we need it to maintain a service in Crank where people can come and draw their pensions – particularly because of the high cost of transport to Rainford."
If compulsory purchase was permitted then the building could be bought at the lower price.
There was more concern expressed in the Reporter over the possibility of bank customers getting mugged.
A ban was now in place on vehicles parking in Hardshaw Street and depositors had to carry money to the banks from either Chalon Way or Birchley Street car parks – which were more than 300 yards away.
Derek Long, the manager of Lloyds Bank in Hardshaw Street, said: "One of these days there is going to be a nasty accident to someone. I hope the council don't feel any recrimination when it happens. We are asking for co-operation from police and traffic wardens so the situation can be eased."
However, the police stated that if people were taking large sums of money to a bank they could still leave their car in Hardshaw Street.
But their vehicle could only be parked for ten minutes and they had to be accompanied by a second person that needed to remain with the car.
And finally, a brief entertainment guide. On the 21st – and described as the "1972/73 champions" – the Black Dyke Mills Band was in concert at the Theatre Royal.
And on the following evening Lonnie Donegan, the "king of skiffle", performed in Corporation Street.
Then on the 23rd it was all change at the town's two cinemas. At the Capitol 'Dirty Harry' starring Clint Eastwood replaced 'Ryan's Daughter' for a week.
And at the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street, Diana Ross starred as Billie Holiday in 'Lady Sings The Blues', which replaced a film called 'Sex Life in a Convent'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the unhappy Ugandan Asians in St Helens, the claim of Women's lib at Pilks, the St Helens' residents complaining of horrifying living conditions and community service is introduced in the town's courts.